PROCEDURES FOR REPATRIATION FOR OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE

1. Legal basis

- Residence Law 2020;

- Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008;

- Circular 55/2021/TT-BCA elaborating Residence Law.

2. What is repatriation?

According to Vietnamese dictionary, repatriation means to return to the homeland. As defined in the Cambridge English dictionary, repatriation is the act of sending or bringing someone, money or property back to the country in which that person/thing came from. From that, it can be concluded that the concept of "repatriation" or "repatriation of overseas Vietnamese" refers to people with Vietnamese nationality residing abroad who wish to/perform activities of applying for Vietnamese nationality back.

The special thing about the repatriation procedure is that it allows Vietnamese to return nationality while retaining their current foreign nationality. That means, the person carrying out the repatriation procedure will have dual citizenship and enjoy all the economic, political, and social welfare incentives and benefits of both countries in which they are nationals.

3. Conditions to be considered for repatriation

Vietnamese residing abroad who want to return to Vietnam must meet the following conditions:

(i) Having Vietnamese nationality and holding a Vietnamese passport; if having Vietnamese nationality, and holding a foreign passport or a valid document in lieu of a foreign passport, there must be a certification of citizenship registration at an overseas Vietnamese representative agency;

(ii) Clear political attitude: currently do not join or support anti-national organizations, do not take action against the Government of Vietnam and the overseas Vietnamese community;

(iii) Being able to secure life in Vietnam after repatriation;

(iv) Having an agency or relative in Vietnam sponsoring, including:

 - Guarantee agency: A ministerial-level agency, a ministerial-level agency, an agency attached to the Government or the People's Committee of a province or centrally run city shall provide a guarantee for cases of applying for repatriation to participate in land construction. country. The guarantor agency must have a document stating that the applicant for repatriation has invested capital, has a feasible project or is highly skilled, and will be employed by the receiving agency and will be assigned a job commensurate with their education and skills. that man's.

- Relatives in Vietnam guaranty meet the following conditions:

 + Being a person who is full 18 years of age or older, has a permanent household registration in Vietnam, and has not lost or restricted his or her citizenship rights;

 + Having the same clan relationship with the sponsored person, including husband and wife, father, mother, child, maternal grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, aunts and uncles.

4. Documents prepare to return to Vietnamese nationality

A dossier of application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality includes the followings:

a) An application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality;

b) A copy of the Birth Certificate, Passport or other valid substitute document;

c) The curriculum vitae;

d) A criminal record card issued by a competent Vietnamese agency for the time the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality resides in Vietnam, a criminal record card issued by a competent foreign authority. for the time when the applicant to return to Vietnamese nationality resides abroad. Judicial record cards must be issued within 90 days from the date of filing;

e) Papers proving that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality used to have Vietnamese nationality;

f) Documents proving eligibility to return to Vietnamese nationality

5. Procedures for processing dossiers of application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality

Step 1: Submit your application

The applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality shall submit a dossier to the Department of Justice of the place of residence; if residing abroad, the dossier shall be submitted to the Vietnamese representative agency in the host country. In case the application is incomplete or invalid, the application-receiving agency shall immediately notify the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality to supplement and complete the application.

Step 2: Competent authority to handle the application

Within 5 working days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Department of Justice shall send a written request to the provincial-level police office to verify the identity of the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality.

Within 20 days from the date of receipt of the request of the Department of Justice, the provincial-level Public Security agency shall verify and send the results to the Department of Justice. During this time, the Department of Justice must conduct verification of the documents in the application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality. Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the verification result, the Department of Justice shall be responsible. complete the dossier and submit it to the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee.

Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the request of the Department of Justice, the President of the People's Committee of the province shall consider, conclude and propose opinions to the Ministry of Justice.

Within 20 days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the overseas Vietnamese representative mission shall verify and transfer the dossier together with suggestions on the application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality. Department of State to refer to the Department of Justice.

In case of necessity, the Ministry of Justice requests the Ministry of Public Security to verify the identity of the applicant to regain Vietnamese nationality.

Within 20 days from the date of receipt of the written proposal of the President of the People's Committee of the province or of the overseas Vietnamese representative mission, the Ministry of Justice shall re-examine the dossier, if considering If the applicant finds that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality is fully eligible for the restoration of Vietnamese nationality, he/she shall send a written notice to that person to carry out the procedures for renunciation of foreign nationality, unless the applicant for restoration of nationality is Vietnam applies to retain foreign nationality or is a stateless person.

In case the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality applies to retain foreign nationality, and the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality is a stateless person, within 15 days from the date of receipt of a written proposal from the Chairman of the Commission, Provincial-level People's Committees or overseas Vietnamese representative missions, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for re-checking the dossiers, if deems that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality is eligible to be restored to Vietnamese nationality. The South shall report to the Prime Minister for submission to the State President for consideration and decision.

The above article is our firm's perspective towards procedures for repatriation for overseas Vietnamese. For more information and advice on this issue, please contact Doanh Tri Law Firm directly via:
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